Reading the descriptions and building for deliberate synergies is assumed in the learning stages of this game, randomizing everything isn't ideal for learning. It can help to overcommit to a particular strategy, at least to begin with. Make sure you're spending a little energy on opening breaches each round, it makes a big difference.

But it is a brutal game, and the learning curve is a bit rough. If you feel like you're barely edging out a win sometimes or that you're losing a lot of characters, don't give up. That's pretty on theme for the kind of besieged-last-bastion-of-humanity lore of the game, and the mechanics filter into that.

Can you give a little more detail in terms of where you hit trouble? What kind of setups have you tried already?

Hey Du-Vu, thanks for the quick reply!
I guess the biggest hurdle in "getting good" with this game is taking advantage of the "market". In other deckbuilders I played I just pick random players / opponents / setups and wing it.
In this game it feels like the most important decisions take place BEFORE the match starts. Having to choose the ratio and type of gems / relics / spells is overwhelming.
Is there a market META or cards that are "must-haves"?

It's been awhile since I played, but if this game doesn't have default markets for newbies, it SORELY needs them Market construction is the single mist important difficulty setting in the game and it is overwhelming for new players.

Randomly generated markets should come with a warning pop-up about how much harder they can make a game.

To the question:

The simplest way to make the game easier is to play a single hero. I forget what the original solo hero rules were, but they made the game harder. The new ones, where you play 4 single hero turns to 2 villain turns almost trivializes the game when paired with tips below. That's because you are getting one super powered hero instead of two regular ones. You can also respond twice as fast to threats because all actions go towards one hero board vs splitting them.

Rule of thumb: the more heroes you pick, the harder the game.

Second, learn to counter pick your hero vs the chosen nemesis. Each hero's unique blend of starting cards, portals, and special abilities make them perform better or worse depending on the nemesis. An easy pick for new players against Rageborne is the female mage with a healing gem to counter his damage-heavy style.

Third, you don't have to follow 3 gems, 2 trinkets, and 4 spells in your market. Gems especially are over-rated so I never take more than two, sometimes only one. I take extra trinkets for their versatility.

Fourth, never cast sparks unless you have to if you get them sitting in your portals for an extra turn or two (keeping them out if your draw/hand), it's very easy to stack your money cards and pull off a 5 or 6 cost buy early.

Fifth, and most importantly, you need to construct your market so that between your hero and your market, you have a series of roles covered. I'll list in rough descending order of importance (opinion).

Deck thinning.
With four actions a round, you have plenty of turns to thin your deck into a perfect machine. You're familiar with other deck builders, so I won't explain the core concept, just emphasize how critical it is here. There are 2 thinning MVPS: the 3 cost trinket that plays a gem twice and trashes it and the 3 cost spell that trashes a card when cast. Use both of these to kill your crystals and sparks as fast as you can.

Portal opening.
Most mages are designed where you need to open/rotate a portal in turn 1 or 2 to get all sparks played, that's an optimal play, but after that, never spend money directly on that unless you have to. Portal opening effects are more efficient. I recommend the 4 cost spell that rotates (widens?) a portal when cast.

Big money/big damage.
Some nemesises give you breathing room to get an expensive gem early, others bring in minions that need hammered right away. The random villain deck plays a role here. You'll need both, but order depends on circumstances. I recommend the 5 cost gem that gives 3 buy and draw 1 discard 1 and 6 (?) cost spell that does more damage based on open portals. Those both synergize with thinning and portal opening.

Healing
You need mage healing for sure and probably gravehold healing. The 7 cost trinket that can do either is superb, but you need to either hold on for dear life or go big money early to get this into your deck fast. Once it is though, you'll feel like the difficulty just downshifted, because it absolutely did.

Minion busting
Important for all setups, but if you are against a minion heavy nemesis like carapace queen, this moves up the list to just beneath thinning on importance scale. Anything that either directly targets minions or splits damage or casts twice (dlc) will work here.

Turn order manipulation.
Not strictly necessary, but a very powerful effect to have if your setup can include it.

Charge generation
Charges and charge abilities are a mid to late game concern. Once your deck is thin with fat gems and big spells, you can focus on dumping extra buying power into charges. Any market card that provides a more efficient charge generation will do. I like the 5 cost trinket that gives 2 charges for its efficiency, but it's usually a luxury or setting up the coup de gras ability buy.

Deck manipulation
Nice to have. But, you get to set your discard/draw order and you'll have a thin, efficient deck anyway, so a luxury.

If you are playing solo, I highly recommend 2 handed. IMO the best way to play if 2 handed or 2 people.

Solo is super hard. You can get flat lined quick.

Originally posted by WastedAmmo:

Solo is super hard. You can get flat lined quick.

Unless you play with 4 turns per round. Then it is too easy.

Been a while since I played but I would echo a lot of what jvk3 says for general play although I will note that when it comes to card there is going be personal taste and playstyle. For example, I wouldn't suggest to get that spell. While it is removal, the problem is it leaves you the spell which only does 2 damage spell which, when you compare it to your other options, is woefully understrength or doesn't give you enough utility and is now something you have to draw through. At the very least the one that destroys gems gives you a base of 2 Aether which makes it a basic jade which you can use to get more out of another gem.

Instead I would recommend the 3 Cost relic that removes 2 cards from your hand and discard, deletes itself, and than draws you one card. The fact that it can delete from your discard is huge since your not having to eat things that you can use immidately and while Sparks and Shards are bad, it's still better to be able to have a one damaged spell prepped and one aether rather than nothing at all.

I would also note that I think the charge generation is also undervalued in which it can really save your ass if you plan it right. For example outright negating all damage or a nemisis card or simply being able to do 14 damage in a single attack with Jain without too much setup beyond thinning the deck down enough.